Claire Santry, Irish Genealogy News

My blogs

About me

I'm a full-time journalist specialising in Irish genealogy and heritage, and a number of other subjects that fall under the general banners of architecture and travel.
I first became interested in my ancestors in my teens but was told that to research beyond living memory was impossible because All The Records Were Burnt in 1922.
It was to be many years before my urge to know more about my heritage drove me to research the truth of that much quoted line.
After spending just one day in the National Archives in Dublin it was blatently clear that I would be able to research my ancestors way past my grandmother's memory. While delighted, I was also irritated at the years I had wasted in ignorance. How many other people had been denied the pleasure of discovering their ancestors because of this myth?
Of course, some records did, indeed, burn in the 1922 fire. Some. Some left a huge gap that many genealogists cannot fill. But loads of records did survive because they were nowhere near the fire!
So I resolved to try to enlighten others that their Irish genealogy might be within their grasp. To get the message across, I launched my website: www.Irish-Genealogy-Toolkit.com.